British intelligence reportedly told the CIA months before the election that Trump's campaign had illicit contacts with Russia

Former CIA Director John Brennan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington

source

Thomson Reuters

Well before the 2016 presidential election, the CIA
received intelligence from the UK about President Donald
Trump's communications with Russia during his presidential
campaign.

Shortly afterward, they also received a confidential
package containing information about Russian President Vladimir
Putin's involvement in Russia's hacking and online influence
campaign during the election cycle.

Then-President Barack Obama was well aware of these
threats before the election, but his administration did not
take much decisive action in time to prevent Russia's effort
from influencing the election.

Over two months before the 2016 presidential election, the head
of British intelligence flew to Washington to brief then-CIA
Director John Brennan on intercepted communications between the
Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government,
according to a
report from the New Yorker.

Robert Hannigan, then the head of the UK's Government
Communications Headquarters, reportedly alerted Brennan about
these likely illegal contacts shortly before the agency received
a
confidential package that outlined Russian President Vladimir
Putin's direct involvement in Russia's online influence,
disruption, and disinformation campaign that aimed to damage 2016
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and help Trump
get elected. The Washington Post reported last year that this
package stipulated that only then-President Barack Obama and
three senior aides could view the information it contained.

By August, intelligence agencies were aware that the Democratic
National Committee email servers were hacked in July 2016, and
the FBI had officially launched an investigation into Trump's
ties to Russia.

Yet despite these early indicators that Russia was meddling in
the 2016 election, little was done to counter these efforts by
the intelligence community because no consensus emerged between
agencies about the nature of Russia's involvement until the final
weeks of the Obama administration.

Obama's response to Russian meddling

In September 2016, Obama personally told Russian President
Vladimir Putin at a G20 summit to "to cut it out," referring to
Russia's interference campaign.

caption

U.S. President Barack Obama answers questions during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House December 16, 2016 in Washington, DC.

source

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

And yet there was apparently little the president could
personally do on the matter.

It took some time for the intelligence community to issue a
comprehensive report on Russian interference. Obama's former
chief of staff Denis McDonough
said on Sunday a lot of the onus to act rested with the
states.

McDonough said in terms of defending state election systems
themselves, the Obama administration was able to effectively
thwart Russian plans.

"I think it is very important to recognize that there's two
issues here, Chuck," he said. "One is the sanctity of the vote,
that the voter roll, the individual going into that ballot box
and casting a vote and making sure that that vote is counted. And
we stand by our position that the thing we feared they may do in
that spot, they did not."

Russian political operatives were still able to interfere in the
election process through targeted ads, amplified divisive
messages on social media, and the organization of protests meant
to deepen social chasms in the US.

NBC News also reported in
February that the US intelligence agencies had
evidence that Russia-backed hackers compromised voter
registration systems or websites in seven states, but never told
the states. The US Department of Homeland Security denied the
report.